Wisconsin 68, Michigan 59

The Sports Xchange

The SportsXchange•March 15, 2013

CHICAGO -- Traevon Jackson scored 16 points and Ben Brust added 14 as fourth-seeded Wisconsin held off a furious Michigan comeback for a 68-59 Big Ten tournament quarterfinal victory Friday at the United Center. The Badgers (22-10) held a shaky 56-54 lead with 3:37 to play before sophomore Frank Kaminsky helped secure the win with two jumpers in a 10-2 run into the final minute. Wisconsin beat Michigan for the 13th time in 14 meetings and advanced to Saturday's semifinals against top-seeded Indiana. Trey Burke paced fifth-seeded Michigan (26-7) with 19 points and Tim Hardaway, Jr., had 14. Ryan Evans added 12 points for the Badgers. It was Wisconsin's second win of the season over Michigan, currently ranked sixth nationally. The Badgers beat the Wolverines 65-62 in overtime on Feb. 9 in the only regular-season meeting. Both teams struggled offensively in the first half and Wisconsin didn't reach double digits until Evans hit the second of two free throws with 4:50 left. The Badgers had hit just 4 of 23 shots from the field (17.4 percent) to that point and Michigan was marginally better at 36.3 percent (8 of 22) as it maintained a 16-10 lead. Michigan led 20-17 at halftime but went more than four minutes without a field goal between Nik Stauskas' jumper with 4:35 left and Glenn Robinson III's layup with 18 seconds left. Jackson hit a 3-pointer with four seconds left to trim the Wolverines' halftime advantage. Wisconsin grabbed their first lead since the opening minutes when Jared Berggren's layup made it 26-24 with 16:54 left. By the 11:33 mark, Wisconsin was up 40-34 after a Mike Brueswitz 3-pointer. The game suddenly turned into a sprint with teams trading baskets during the next four minutes. But the advantage remained with the Badgers, who led 52-45 after a Jackson 3-pointer with 7:04 left. A minute later, Wisconsin was bidding to put the game away as Brust capped a 12-3 run with a 3-pointer for a 56-45 lead, the Badgers' biggest of the day. But Michigan wasn't finished. The Wolverines scored nine straight points in a two-minute run -- including two Burke layups -- to slice the Badgers' lead to 56-54 and get back into contention. NOTES: Wisconsin's Big Ten all-freshman pick Sam Dekker has scored in double figures in seven of his last eight games, averaging 12.6 points. ... Brust also has had a hot hand, scoring in double figures in nine of his last 10 games entering Friday. ... Wisconsin has never finished lower than fourth in the conference standings in the last 12 years under Bo Ryan, named consensus Big Ten coach of the year. ... Wisconsin is 16-13 in the Big Ten tournament, with championships in 2004 and 2008. ... Michigan is 12-15 in tournament play and 0-2 against Wisconsin in the Big Ten tournament. ... Burke, the Big Ten player of the year, carried a 19.2-point average into Friday's game. ... Although ranked sixth in the nation, the Wolverines ended up with a No. 5 seed in the Big Ten tournament and were forced to play a first-round game on Thursday, beating Penn State 63-60.